Conserve School Attends Many Ways of Peace Papermaking Workshop

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On Saturday, August 25, 2012, a handful of Conserve School students spent the day in Eagle River, WI to attend the Many Ways of Peace Papermaking Workshop.  Led by Drew Mattot of the Combat Paper Project and Margaret Mahan of the Peace Paper Project Conserve School students learned first hand how to transform fabric into paper.  The process from cloth (much of which holds personal significance for the workshop participants) to paper is an artistically transformative process that can help heal and inspire.  It begins by chopping up the fabric into small pieces, and then running the scraps through a Hollander beater which breaks down the fabric into pulp.  Next, the pulp is added to water and once charged (stirred by hand), molds of wooden frames and screens are dipped into the mixture to produce the sheets of paper.  Lastly, the sheets were couched (placed onto pieces of cloth) and pressed with the weight of a vehicle.  Through this workshop Conserve School students joined the local community to participate an a celebration of recycling, creativity, and personal expression.

Conserve School students Paige, Kaia, Maia, Alex, Molly, Gwen, and Jackie, Grad Fellow Pete, and workshop leaders Margaret Mahan and Drew Mattot make a formidable team for peace.

The first step in the paper making process is to cut the fabric into small, postage stamp sized pieces.

Workshop leader Margaret Mahan explains to Jackie and Molly how to cut the fabric in preparation for the pulp making.

There’s no lack of creativity with these students! Molly sports a colorful new look with fabric bangs.

Workshop leader Margaret Mahan operates the Hollander beater.

Workshop leader Margaret Mahan shows students how to use the Hollander beater to transform the fabric to pulp.

Jackie and Paige add cloth pieces to the Hollander beater to make pulp.

To break the fabric down into pulp, students add fabric scraps into a Hollander beater.

Workshop leaders Margaret Mahan and Drew Mattot watch as Conserve School students used molds to produce sheets of paper.

Jackie, Maia, Kaia, and Alex working with molds and pulp.

Alex and Paige pause to smile for a picture with the papermaking molds.

Workshop leader Margaret Mahan watches as Maia produces paper using a mold and pulp.

Kaia and Maia use molds to create sheets of paper.

Working with workshop leaders Margaret Mahan and Drew Mattot, Jackie and Paige produce sheets of paper with molds and pulp.

Jackie and Gwen create pieces of paper using molds and pulp mixture.

Workshop leader Margaret Mahan guides Alex as she dips a mold into the paper pulp.

Sheets of paper are made by dipping a mold made of a screen and wooden frame into the freshly brewed pulp.

A mold is lifted carefully from the pulp.

Our Conserve School students definitely left an impression at this papermaking workshop!

Workshop leaders Margaret Mahan and Drew Mattot prepare the paper to be pressed by a hefty Sprinter.

Nothing like a Conserve School Sprinter to press the final paper product!